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Chapter 24
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ragtime, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The American Dream
Replication and Transformation
Freedom, Human Dignity, and Justice
The Cult of Celebrity
Women’s Roles
Social Inequities
Summary
Analysis
Throughout the summer—between accepting Coalhouse’s proposal and the Model T incident—Sarah had blossomed. As they worked together on Sarah’s wedding dress, Mother realized that Sarah is a complete innocent—she can’t imagine mistreating others, so she is particularly wounded when people mistreat her. Thus, she becomes despondent when Coalhouse postpones the wedding.
Coalhouse knows all too well how little white society values him and he approaches the world in a way that asserts his value in the face of their denial. In contrast, Sarah’s demeanor offers a straightforward reflection of the way others treat her. When she’s treated well, she blossoms; when she’s treated poorly, she wilts. Her suffering reminds readers of the stakes of the struggle for justice.
Themes
Father eventually resolves to have a word with Chief Conklin. He’s even ready to bribe the firefighters to fix the Model T (they are, he reasons, “town dregs” and thus susceptible to bribery) to fix the damage. Mother worries that this will wound Coalhouse’s pride further. But before Father can act on his plan, Sarah takes matters into her own hands. Learning that James Sherman, the sitting Vice-President, will be in New Rochelle campaigning for President Taft’s reelection, she decides to ask him for justice. On the night of Sherman’s speech, she leaves the house without telling anyone and heads toward the hotel where he will speak.
Sarah’s plan indicates a naive belief that the country will follow through on its promises of justice and dignity for all, if a person only discovers the right avenue through which to claim it. But Father’s distaste for the white—but ethnically Irish and working-class—firefighters suggests that this isn’t true. His thoughts suggest a general belief that some kinds of people have more value—and therefore more dignity and more access to justice—than others in turn-of-the-century American society. And just being white isn’t always enough.
Themes
These days, there is heightened concern about assassinations at such public events, and with good reason. An anarchist assassinated President McKinley in 1901, and someone had tried to shoot former President Teddy Roosevelt when he was campaigning in Wisconsin for one of Taft’s competitors only days before. So, when Sarah runs toward the Vice-President with her hand outstretched, the Secret Service members think she’s a credible threat. They neutralize her with a sharp blow to the ribs then load her into a police wagon and cart her to jail. She refuses to talk to the police officers who try to interrogate her. In the morning, after she begins coughing up blood, they take her to the public ward of the hospital.
Readers have already met McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, in Emma Goldman’s stories. Roosevelt’s would-be assassin, John Schrank, didn’t have political motives. But the two attempts together remind readers of the social and political upheaval that characterized the era. And they help to explain the actions of the Secret Service. Modern day readers might find the description of Sarah’s encounter with police eerily prescient for the ways it seems to anticipate notable instances of early 21st-century police brutality against Black people. In this vein, it’s worth noting the long and devastating history of anti-Black racism in America and asking—as the book prods readers to do—how much society has actually progressed since the early 20th century.
Themes
Back at the house, Mother discovers Sarah’s absence when she hears the baby crying inconsolably. It takes several hours for the family to learn where she is. Mother and Father rush to the hospital to find her already feverish. Within a day she’s developed pneumonia. They pay for Sarah to have a private room and track down Coalhouse through his orchestra. He rushes to New Rochelle to sit by her side, consumed with grief. Within a week she dies.
In stark contrast to the brutal and neglectful treatment of the Secret Service officers and police, Mother’s and Father’s concern and care recognize Sarah’s dignity. Notably, Father demonstrates less frustration with Sarah than Coalhouse, likely because Sarah makes no overt demands on Father’s respect. This allows him to play the role of her benevolent (and, by implication, superior) white savior. But Father’s grudging tolerance isn’t enough to save her—or to address the root causes of her death, among which is the systemic racism that denies her and Coalhouse—and by extension Black Americans generally—justice and equality.
Themes
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